Photo Borel Aircraft

[musec04]

Hello,


Currently on ebay is a photo of a Borel Monoplane numbered Bo.15 (?), probably not a military number at:


https://www.delcampe.net/de/sammlero...875938570.html



Regards,


Clint

[Stig Jarlevik]

Clint

It certainly looks like an early French military serial number.

Cheers
Stig

[musec04]

Hi Stig,


Yes it does. Id feel more comfortable if I'd seen other Borel machines marked in the same manner though, just to be on the safe side. If I recall correctly nothing mentioned in Davilla and Soltan either.


Regards,


Clint

[Stig Jarlevik]

Without checking Clint (I would have to lift my rear end from the chair...) this photo has been published before.

By the time WW 1 broke out, I believe Borel was out as a military supplier?

Cheers
Stig

[musec04]

Stig,


Having lifted mine (I'm not planning any serious walking before Monday at the earliest) Davilla and Soltan P.76 say that the Borel Floatplane was the only operational type (do they exclude trainers from 'operational'? who can say).


Intersting you say you believe its been previously published. I find even naarrowing down the type tricky. Looking at Opdycke French Aeroplanes before the Great War it looks least unlike a 1913 small fully covered single seater built for a guy called Daucourt. The same guy was said to have flown a 2-seater, but although the one shown in the photo following the link looks like a 2 seater, it was said to have no cross axle. I think that's a cross axle in the photo isn't it?


Regards,


Clint

[jschreiber]

Hello
The only Borel equipped Escadrille was the 9, in the years 1912-1913. All the details (an huge amount...) by Albin Dénis, with a photo of the Borel number 17, here :
http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escad...adrille009.htm

Regards
Jean

[musec04]

Thanks Jean


And Bo 17 is definitely a single seater. What is your opinion. Is Bo 15 a two seater or the same type as Bo 17 as shown at Albindenis?




Regards,


Clint

[jschreiber]

The photo was taken at the 1912 maneuvers (fall). The Borel number 15 was a single seater, payed by a Madame Guerin, during the intense subscription campaign of 1912, to “give airplanes at our Army”. The two seater Borel was a failure, and all the Borel were withdrawn in November 1913, single seaters included.
Regards
Jean

[musec04]

Jean,


Thanks for the information. Its always good to learn something new.But can you tell me did Borel machines with serials prior to Bo 15 also see service with Bo 9 ?



Regards,


Clint

[jschreiber]

Hello Clint

Borel numbers 12, 13, 14 were also affected at the Escadrille 9, at Épinal. Escadrille 9 had also, to complement the Borel, some Blériot XI.

Regards
Jean